Contents

The game opens up in an Australian archipelago with the evil Doctor Neo Cortex and his partner Doctor Nitrus Brio creating mutated animals in order to build an army of them to take over the world. One of his creations, Crash Bandicoot, escapes from his castle after an unsuccessful attempt at brainwashing Crash. However, Cortex still has Crash's girlfriend Tawna hostage. Crash washes ashore on N. Sanity Island and decides to go after Cortex in order to stop his evil plans and save Tawna by traveling across the various islands to get back to Cortex Island.

After overcoming the islands' numerous obstacles and defeating Cortex's mutated henchmen and N. Brio, Crash finally faces Cortex himself on top of Cortex's airship as Castle Cortex burns in the background. Crash succeeds in defeating Cortex which results in the evil doctor falling to his doom. Crash then finds Tawna and rides off with her on a bird (this ending is the canon ending that is awarded to the player by getting 100%).

Crash Bandicoot is a 3D platforming game where the player plays as Crash. The perspective of the game is fixed behind Crash almost at all times which lead to the creators to jokingly nickname the project "Sonic's Ass Game". Sometimes the perspective changes to a more traditional 2D perspective where the player sees Crash from the side.

In each level, there are wooden crates that the player has to break by making Crash spin or jump on them. Successfully destroying all of the crates in a level without dying in the level at all will result in Crash gaining a gem. However, some levels can't be completed 100% without getting a colored gem from a later level. Most crates have Wumpa Fruit inside (100 Wumpa Fruit leads to an extra life) but sometimes can have character mugs that are icons of either Tawna's, N. Brio's, or Cortex's heads. Getting three of these mugs results in Crash being taken to a bonus level where he can gain extra lives and save his progress if he reaches the end of it. Also extra lives and Aku Aku masks can be found inside them.

Aku Aku acts as Crash's health, without Aku Aku, Crash will die in one hit. Two masks will grant Crash an extra hit point and three results in temporary invincibility. There's also keys that are awarded for beating Cortex bonus levels and those keys unlock a couple levels.

There are many different type of crates that Crash will encounter in the game, some of which are not breakable.

Wooden Crate - These are the most common and plain crates that have small amounts of Wumpa Fruit inside.

? Crate (or Surprise Crate) - These are crates that can have larger quantities of Wumpa Fruit, a character mug, or a life inside it.

TNT Crate - These are dangerous crates that will start a countdown from 3 to 0 if jumped on and will explode immediately if spun. The explosions from crates can also blow up nearby crates and blow away any items within its radius.

Spring Crate - These crates act as trampolines and help Crash reach higher heights. Destroying these crates will give you a Wumpa Fruit as well. They also come in an unbreakable steel variety.

Bounce Crate - Bounce crates usually come in pairs of two, one on the ground while one with be directly above it floating in the air. They don't break with one jump, but will break after 10 bounces in a rapid succession. Bouncing between these two crates can net the player a total of 10 Wumpa Fruit.

Steel Crate - An unbreakable crate that does not count in the crate count.

Switch Crate - A steel crate that if jumped on will make Outline Crates become real tangible crates that can be broken if Wooden Crates.

Outline Crate - These are crates that have not been activated yet. If the player tries to jump on one, they will go right through the outline.

Checkpoint Crate - Crates that players will respawn at if they die, but if the crate is not opened then the player will not respawn at it.

Life Crate - Crates that give the player a 1-up.

Aku Aku Crate - Crates that will give the player an Aku Aku mask to protect them.

Some time after the release of the game, a prototype of it was discovered which has many features that did not make it into the final game. It is currently the oldest known version of the game.

The prototype's main screen is vastly different from that of the final game's. The screen depicts N. Brio pulling a lever which causes the chair that Tawna is strapped into to rise into the Cortex Vortex. Then the chair falls back down abruptly and the animation repeats. Cortex is also seen in the right corner typing on a computer and he will occasionally face the player before returning to typing. The menu has a "Load Game" option but it instead takes the player to the password menu with no way to actually load or save. Tawna's design is notably different from her final design.

When the player starts a new game, the game will start the player on the map screen. The map screen in prototype is 2D whereas the final version is 3D. An Aku Aku icon sits in the bottom right corner with the map controls. None of the levels in the game are named and boss levels are represented by their respective icon. Special paths are missing due to the fact that the prototype lacks gems.

A removed type of crate is present in the prototype called the POW crate.The POW crates destroy all the crates in within reach when destroyed. However, sometimes some crates may still remain intact. TNT crates do not display the countdown seen in the final version but still plays the countdown sound at a slower speed.

The password system from the final version is present in this prototype, but instead of being a combination of PlayStation buttons, it is a combination of the character icons. Trying to save in the prototype takes you to the password screen making it impossible to load or save by any other means. Completing bonus rounds do not give the player their completion percentage and instead just displays the password.

In the level Lights Out when the stage turns dark, notable textures are missing as well as Aku Aku's lantern appearance in this level from the final game. In the level Cortex Power, there is a different door and walking past this door will display the door with Pinstripe on it which is seen at the end of the Generator Room level in the final version. The level Sunset Vista was vastly different from its final version and had unforgiving platforming challenges and obstacles, but it still is the longest level in the game.

Ripper Roo's boss fight is also notably harder with him jumping faster and random falling crates, including TNT crates. The Koala Kong battle is also harder as spinning rocks do not hone in on him and instead go to the middle by default. The fight against N. Brio becomes more challenging with red blobs being invincible until they turn green. However, if one wants too long they will turn yellow and then red again. There is also a glitch that causes this fight to be unwinnable where once N. Brio transforms he will continue to take hits beyond his health bar and will become harder and harder to avoid until the player dies. The Cortex battle plays out the same but the player is given an Aku Aku mask at the beginning of the battle since two Aku Aku masks are not given when the player dies a lot.

The order of levels in the prototype are in a slightly different order than in the original and also lacks levels Whole Hog and The Great Hall. Hacking the prototype's code reveals some unfinished levels. One features climbing up a waterfall, a crystal cavern with acid, and a cliff level that is similar to the waterfall one.

An old version of Naughty Dog's logo screen seen in a prototype.

The prototype's title screen showing Tawna, N. Brio, and Cortex.

The prototype's loading screen.

The prototype's game over screen.

The prototype's map showing all three islands

The prototype's map of N. Sanity Island.

An early version of the boss bar is in the bottom right corner.

Different Tawna icon

Different font than the final version's.

Aku Aku dripped sparkles of different colors while the final game has yellow sparkles that pop out of him.

Checkpoint crates in the prototype released the word "Continue" instead of "Checkpoint" with a different visual effect.

A removed type of crate with the word "Pow" on it.

A Pow Crate's explosion.

Prototype version of Sunset Vista (1/4).

Prototype version of Sunset Vista (2/4).

Prototype version of Sunset Vista (3/4).

Prototype version of Sunset Vista (4/4).

An early version of the game's passwords. Later replaced by buttons in the final version.

in the prototype, the level Lights Out is missing textures. Aku Aku's lantern effect in the final game is not present.

Stormy Ascent is a removed level from Crash Bandicoot that is still present in the coding of the final game. The level is inaccessible through normal means. Stormy Ascent is the counterpart to the level Slippery Climb but is a more challenging level. The level features a convoluted layout that is abundant with enemies and moving platforms. The level was also supposed to feature the second Cortex bonus round but since the bonus was moved to the Jaws of Darkness level, it no longer works in Stormy Ascent.